


Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil

by Chibiobiwan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Fantasy Europe, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Unrealistic Convent, Virgin Territory AU, referenced homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 00:52:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13376643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibiobiwan/pseuds/Chibiobiwan
Summary: Forced to flee the city from both the plague and men hunting him, Anakin takes refuge at a Convent under the pretense of being both deaf and dumb. Brother Kenobi, a monk who has secluded himself amongst Nuns for a reason, is at first skeptical but then protective of the seemingly innocent man.





	Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, this is what happens when I watch a ridiculous movie starring a man far too attractive for his own good. Well that combined with the fact that I wanted Obi-wan to show up and... well this was the result. I wrote this a year or two ago and kept the Nuns in character which is not to say realistic. Hope you enjoy!

After the plague came, everything was different. The once bustling streets of Florence now stunk with the smoke of burning bodies and no matter where you turned, fear and despair clung. 

 

For Anakin, it meant his luck had finally run out.

 

Anakin was a risk-taker, or what some would call a gambler, and had the misfortune to win against Gerbino De Ratta. While normally this would have given him enough coin to hopefully get out of the city, his luck had unfortunately taken a turn for the worse as Gerbino sent his goons after him to get back the gold he had lost. Anakin had never met such a sore-loser in his entire life.

 

He made it to the outskirts of the city when two of the goons managed to corner him on the old canal road. Flanked forward and back with either sewage or a stone fence wall, Anakin’s choice was easy. Nimbly he managed to climb from atop his horse to the fence. He turned around to throw a triumphant grin only to realize the two men were going to follow suit. He quickly took his stance and drew his blade. Luckily Anakin’s fencing combined with his ease with heights allowed him to take on each before escaping over the other side.

 

It would only be so long until the gang leader and his thugs caught up with him, so his plans to leave the city suddenly moved up. He managed to get a horse that his friends had prepared for him before he was off, galloping out of the city calling out his thanks behind him. 

 

Unfortunately, Gerbino did not give up easily, and within an hour Anakin caught sight of half a dozen men and their horses riding at full pace to catch up with him. Hissing with dismay Anakin tried his best to lose them, but while he managed to trick them a few times he never managed to lose them for long

 

Up ahead a long line of old pines grew along the trail and in a split second Anakin had one last idea. It would either finally get the goons off his trail or get him killed, but at this point it was a risk he was willing to take. A low branch hung across the path and was just the right height that when he stood- Anakin nearly had the breath knocked out of him as he caught onto the tree’s branch for dear life as his horse continued to blaze ahead.  With any luck, the young mare would continue for a few miles yet. In the meantime, Anakin scrambled to get high enough that the goons wouldn’t notice him as they passed by. He was practically breathless as he heard the clatter of horse's hooves getting closer. He was in the tree’s highest branches when they passed by, none of them thinking to look up as they chased the runaway pony.

 

Once they were out of sight Anakin let out a breath of relief just as the branch he was standing on finally decided to give way.

 

He only had a split second to think that this was going to hurt before he hit the ground. Hard.

 

__

 

It was not long before Anakin was discovered by the curious sisters of a nearby Convent. The young women giggled amongst themselves as they took in the man who had seemingly fallen from heaven itself. Or at least was beautiful enough to have done so. They were all in agreeance that they couldn’t possibly leave the man (whether dead or alive) and through trial and error (and a wheelbarrow from the garden) managed to take him back to the convent where they laid him temptingly out on a table.

 

Two of the Sisters were sent away to find the Matron, leaving the other half of the cohort to hover over the body. Exchanging sly glances one of the Nun’s asked if they should take off the young man’s clothes, just to see if he had any broken bones from his fall of course.

 

The other girl’s eyes lit up as she agreed, and then it was just a matter of deciding where to start. With breathless hesitance, the Sister decided on the tunic. Gripping it delicately between her fingers she slowly lifted the shirt until it showed the man’s lower abdomen. Both girl’s eyes were so fixated that they hardly noticed the man stirring beneath their administrations.

 

“I wonder…” The Sister murmured under her breath even as she leaned down a placed a soft kiss upon the flesh she had exposed. The touch lingered and Anakin drifted between waking and sleep-thinking it was all a very strange, very good dream 

 

The Nun pulled away reluctantly but eagerly encouraged her friend to try as well. The second kiss felt just as good as the first. Strangely encouraged by their audacity, the two women began to giggle about the all too tempting lips that were normally so unattainable for any girl who joined the church.

 

It was almost like a fairytale- except maybe perhaps too much so. The kiss woke Anakin, who starred up at the young woman with bemusement. In turn, startling the Nun badly when she opened her own eyes.

 

“Sisters”

 

The Two Nuns jumped again when they heard the matron come up behind them at exactly the wrong time. Anakin remained laying on the table, watchful as he tried to figure out what was going on, but brought his hands to cover his bare lower stomach all the same. So much for it being just a dream. The two girls hurried to distract the Matron by explaining that they believed the young man to be Deaf and Dumb.

 

All of this was slightly confusing for Anakin when all put together, but in the back of his mind, he remembered a traveler saying that the Sacred Sisters of the Bleeding Hearts were known to take in servants with such disabilities. Instantly he knew what he had to do, he needed to hide, and what better place than a Convent?

 

The Matron seemed eager to hear Anakin’s answer as she asked Anakin both verbally and with hand gestures if he could hear, and then when he nodded no, she barely managed to contain her excitement and asked if he could speak. Again he shook his head.

 

“A miracle” The woman smiled with restrained delight.

 

“Is that so?” All four of them jerked to see as a monk entered the room, his brows drawn together as he took in Anakin on the table.

 

“Brother Kenobi.” The Matron recovered the quickest with the two younger nun’s murmuring greetings behind her.

 

The monk nodded in return and looked questioningly towards where Anakin still laid. “I have just heard of our guest’s arrival. I hope all is well.”

 

The three women exchanged glances. “Yes, I believe so, Brother Kenobi. I believe this young man has in fact been sent to us from Heaven. He’s deaf and dumb you see.” The Matron clarified for the monk.

 

“Truly?” Anakin didn’t appreciate the somewhat critical question but forced himself to maintain an air of curious naivety as he shouldn’t have been able to follow their conversation at all.

 

“Yes, in fact, I thought he could become our new Gardener.” Brother Kenobi, or whoever he was, looked away from Anakin and nodded begrudgingly to the Matron.

 

“I will admit that the timing is rather… miraculous.” Ah, something had happened to the old gardener then. Hopefully not the plague, otherwise Anakin might not stick around for long after all.

 

The Matron seemed to take the Monk’s concession as agreement. “Wonderful then, I was just about to tell Sister Margaret and Beatrice to take him to the Bath House to get cleaned up, and of course make sure he wasn’t injured along his journey here.”

 

The two girls started moving alongside Anakin to help him sit up while the Monk looked suspiciously on. Before Anakin could so much as get to his feet, however, Brother Kenobi interrupted. “I think it would be wise if I came along to supervise.”

 

Disappointment was clear in the look exchanged over Anakin’s head, and he couldn’t help wonder exactly what they had intended for him if not for the Monk’s interference. As it was Anakin wasn’t sure whether he should be grateful or not. With their combined efforts he was settled on his feet with the two Sisters supporting his weight on either side. The Monk kept a wary eye from the back, and gradually the four of them made their way to the bathhouse. 

 

Anakin had a feeling that if not for the Monk then the two Nuns would have been whispering to each other along the way, but as it was, the trek was silent and Anakin could focus on putting one step in front of another. The fall had hurt after all, and he had no doubt that there would be bruises scattered up and down his back for a few weeks yet.

 

They soon arrived without incident (aside from a few giggling Nun’s who skittered past them once they spotted Brother Kenobi). The Nun who had pulled up his tunic earlier bit her lip as she helped him lean against a wall, but let her hands linger. “...We should help him undress.” The words had likely been meant to come out as a question but instead sounded overeager.

 

The Brother cleared his throat and looked clearly unimpressed, but cleared his expression when the two Sisters turned towards him sharply. Had they possibly forgotten the Brother trailing behind them? Anakin wondered incredulously while forcing himself to look bemused by everything that was said as to not give himself away. The Brother would no doubt catch him quickly if he had any kind of slip up. Anakin knew a man with a smart eye when he saw one.

 

“I believe it would be better for you to fetch some hot water, otherwise our new gardener will be very cold.” The girls went wide-eyed, but nodded hurriedly and made a swift exit to accomplish the chore he had set for them.

 

It left Anakin alone with the man, particularly when with a sigh the Monk closed the door behind the girls. Looking unsurely at the Brother, Anakin waited to see what would come next.

 

“Well, they were right about one thing. We do need to get you undressed.” The Monk turned back to Anakin with one arm folded while the other scratched at his bearded chin.

 

Anakin feigned confusion and didn’t respond aside from a faint gesture to his ear.

 

“Hmm, of course.” For the first time, a look of bewilderment fell on the Monk as he tried to decide what to do. “Ah- You” The monk pointed at Anakin, “need to undress.” He tried to mimic taking off a tunic and while Anakin was mentally snickering inside he sent a look of utter confusion.

 

“Oh dear.” The Monk frowned as he tried to decide what to do, and for a moment Anakin thought that he had won and the monk was going to give up and wait for the girls to come back.

 

With a huff, the monk came towards him, which would have made Anakin take a few steps back if not for the fact he was already up against a wall, quite literally. It was interesting to realize that despite the Monk’s larger than life countenance he was, in fact, shorter than Anakin. A slight smile must have grown on Anakin’s face as he looked down at the man because the monk rolled his eyes and muttered about giants as he reached and began pulling at Anakin’s tunic.

 

Startled by the maneuver Anakin lifted his arms slightly and managed to turn a look of wide-eyed dismay on the Monk who simply tried the gestures he had used before again.

 

“You,” He pointed at Anakin. “Need to take off your clothes.” Anakin’s tunic got hitched a little higher. “In order to take a bath.” The Monk pointed at the large wooden tub in the middle of the room.

 

Despite being tempted to try and continue to bamboozle the monk, Anakin’s own embarrassment got the best of him. With a wide-eyed silent “Ohhh” he pretended to finally understand. He began undressing, but though he was now willing to comply he was still injured. After wobbling as he tried to get his tunic off, the Monk steadied him and helped him finish pulling the shirt off.

 

With a look of concern, the Monk gently pulled Anakin away from the wall and a good look at his back before wincing. “I see they weren’t exaggerating when they say you fell from heaven.” The Monk murmured and looked at Anakin with a measure of contrition. “Come on, I’ll help you get your boots off.” The Monk seemed softer now that he had seen Anakin’s injuries and though Anakin had to feign deafness it was easy enough to understand what the man wanted through his guiding hands.

 

This was slightly uncomfortable for Anakin, as though he and his friends were handsy with one another it was usually with quite a bit more clothing and much rougher.  Still, it felt a bit nice to be pampered.

 

The Monk had just helped him get off his second boot off when the two Nun’s burst into the room, their hopeful gazes on the tub, then on him, and then rather disappointed. Anakin had to hide a smile as he realized that they had been hoping for a bit of a show.

 

“Sisters.” The Monk greeted the two girls, and from the way he looked at them disapprovingly, he likely had the same thought as Anakin. He seemed willing to let it go however as he glanced between them and the two large buckets of water they had brought. “Will that be enough water?”

 

“Oh!” The Sister, Anakin really wasn’t sure which one was which. “No Brother, we asked Sisters Mary and Isabella to help as well…. they should be along shortly.” The girls looked rather dismayed but quickly emptied the buckets they carried into the large tub and began pumping in cold water from the faucet. The boiling hot water combined with the cold would make for a nice warm bath that Anakin was looking forward to after his fall.

 

He glanced at the Monk while the Sisters worked, and then with some mischief began to finish undressing. Unfortunately, it was the Brother who caught Anakin before either of the Sisters could and with clear alarm put a stop to the slow shimmy that Anakin had been working on. Of course, Anakin’s breeches were already undone, and with a blush staining his cheeks, the monk pulled them back up and tightened the strings. 

 

The Sisters had noticed the commotion and paused what they were doing to look over curiously, but Anakin maintained his air of innocence and one look form the Monk had them working away again. Soon enough the next round of Sisters came in the now open door and added more hot water to the large tub. One of them could barely take her eyes off Anakin’s chest as she reported that there was just one more round to go… and that if their new gardener wished to get in the tub now they could add afterward to keep the water warm. It was honestly a struggle to not show a reaction as he realized exactly what the Sister and her friends were probably hoping for.

 

“That is quite alright, he can wait.” With a disappointed glance, the sisters left to get the rest of the water, and seeing the tub was full enough Brother Kenobi ushered the first two Nun’s out of the room as well. They waited in awkward silence until the last of the water was delivered, at this point, Anakin wouldn’t have minded a peep show if he could just get in the tub already, but it was not to be.

 

One of the Nun’s made one last attempt to stay by offering to help Anakin “clean himself”, something that would be hard to do with the high walls of the tub, unless she was in it as well. The Monk declined the last overture, however, saying that he would be able to help where it was needed.

 

Anakin was lucky no one was looking at him as his brows when up to his hairline, they were sharing a bath now?

 

Luckily he was able to school his expression again as the monk, or rather Brother Kenobi turned back after closing the door.

 

“Alright then,  _ now _ you can take off your pants.” The man once more gestured the best he could about what he was saying aloud. Anakin decided it was good enough, as he really did want to get in the bath before it got cold and began to finish undressing. However, that meant he had to stand from where he was leaned against the wall, and he was still a bit wobbly. The monk hurried to his side however and stabilized him before helping him step out of the trousers. 

 

Anakin was amused to see a blush on the man’s cheeks as he helped him up the stairs that led into the tub. Luckily once in the water, Anakin was able to settle himself and looked expectantly at the Monk.

 

Strangely the blush hadn’t faded, and Anakin couldn’t help but wonder why.

 

“I.” The Monk gestured towards himself, “am going to get in with you.” He pointed to the tub. Anakin was extremely glad that he was not truly deaf or dumb otherwise he probably would have had no idea what the man was trying to say. With that in mind, Anakin decided to look just as confused as he thought he would be if his fate had been rather different.

 

The Monk pursed his lips and looked rather guilty. “Well then…” He muttered and began pulling off his robe. Anakin allowed himself to smirk slightly as the man undressed- since the man was blinded by the long robe as it came off. Unlike Anakin, the man did have a underclothing that covered his manhood, but that was soon shucked as well after the monk made one last attempt to help Anakin understand he would be joining him in the bath.

 

Anakin couldn’t help but tease the monk by playing dumb until the man actually got in the water at which time Anakin pretended to have a sudden click in understanding.

 

The monk seemed relieved, and much more aware of his nakedness then Anakin, but also determined to actually do as he said- help Anakin get clean.

 

It was luxurious to take a bath after the last few weeks in a plague-ridden city, and so despite delightedly in playing dumb to the man’s instructions he let himself get pampered a bit more and turned to allow access to his back.

 

“There now, not so bad.”  Brother Kenobi murmured despite knowing that Anakin wouldn’t be able to hear him. To make up for it, the monk gently squeezed Anakin’s upper arm to reassure him.

 

“These don’t look as bad as I thought… we’ll want to put some salve them though.” The man was just talking to himself now and as he seemed to finish Anakin’s back and shoulders Anakin decided to tease him a bit. Plus he was getting tired of sitting up.

 

Anakin leaned back into the man with a near silent sigh, looking up at the Monk’s face from his shoulder. For the most part, the monk looked simply startled and with a slight smile Anakin patted the man’s bearded cheek with his dripping wet hand.

 

“Ah, yes. You are quite welcome.” The blush was back, if not a bit stronger than before. Brother Kenobi pushed him away however and grabbed another cloth from the side of the tub. “You should- ah, clean up.” Kenobi pushed the cloth into Anakin’s hand and motioned to start washing up by demonstrating on himself.

 

Anakin allowed a grin of understanding (which really might have been more conniving than anything else) to spread across his face, but instead of washing himself he moved forward to bring the damp washcloth up to return the favor. This meant that Anakin ended up washing Brother Kenobi’s chest as they were now face to face.

 

“Wha? Oh!” Anakin was pretty sure even the monk’s ears were turning red now. “Ah, not needed!”  Kenobi was still gentle as he did his best to thwart Anakin’s attempts to wash him. “That’s really quite alright!” The monk was getting more flustered by the moment until finally, he got hold of both Anakin’s wrists. For a moment they just stared at each other, Anakin pulling his best I’m an angel and only trying to help face. “Oh dear…” Kenobi muttered to himself, before once again trying to communicate though it took a moment as he didn’t seem to dare to let go of either of Anakin’s hands. After some maneuvering, he managed to hold on to both wrists in one hand, (Anakin would have been able to break the hold easily but decided to humor the man).

 

“You-” Gesture “Wash.” Kenobi grabbed the cloth from Anakin’s hands and rubbed it on Anakin’s chest. “Yourself.” The monk let go of one of Anakin’s hands to guide it to the cloth, before guiding both hand and cloth in a washing motion. “Understand?” Anakin had to admit the man looked a bit desperate, although Anakin couldn’t see why- he was just teasing a bit after all.

 

Anakin decided to be nice though and with a smile, he nodded and began to do as the monk wanted. After a moment of warily watching him do so, the monk followed suit. 

 

They bathed in silence for a moment for Kenobi started speaking softly to himself.

 

“I was rather hoping that the next gardener the Sisters found would be as ugly as the last.” The monk said a sigh, glancing through his fringe of hair that had gone askew during their brief battle of who was washing who.

 

Anakin heard quite clearly, but continued to pretend not to, instead focusing on enjoying his bath and getting any dirt off that might have settled on his skin. No doubt the monk was worried that the Nun’s would now be a bit  _ too _ interested in the Gardner. Whereas Anakin imagined, if the gardener was ugly there would be little chance of that.

 

Kenobi ducked his head under the water to wet it before beginning to wash his hair. “Perhaps Heaven is testing me.” The monk mused, looking rather frustrated, and rather than shooting the monk a curious look like he wanted to Anakin copied Kenobi’s action and ducked under the water.

 

When he came back up he found the monk eyeing him closely, however, Anakin didn’t get any insight to what the man was thinking as the monk took a nearby bucket of clean water and used it to rinse himself off before getting out of the tub.

 

Anakin got a flash of his figure as he did so and he couldn’t help but wonder if the monk had helped the Gardner- he certainly had a figure that looked like it did more than just lay about like some of the priests Anakin had come in contact with. Unfortunately, Anakin couldn’t very well ask if that was going to be the case moving forward, so instead just looked on curiously as the monk got dressed again.

 

“Ah… let’s see, you can stay there as long as you want… though you won’t know that.” The man looked as though he was trying to figure out how to convey that until he gave up- instead pulling up a chair to wait for Anakin to finish. However, Anakin had understood and was not about to let good warm bathwater go to waste. With a content sigh, he settled in to soak until the water finally started to cool.

 

Somewhere along the line, the room’s door started to creak open, but Brother Kenobi put a quick end to any of that. Anakin was amused to realize that the monk was protecting his “honour” from the “virtuous” nuns. He had to duck back under the water to hide his laugh.

 

Brother Kenobi moved his chair to be close to the door after that and facing away from Anakin. He guessed that made sense in a way- after all, it wasn’t like they could talk to each other.

 

Finally done with the water Anakin moved to get out of the tub, only to stumble and realize that though the hot water and soothed his muscles it had not made him anymore steady on his feet.

 

Brother Kenobi had noticed however and was by his side within seconds. “There hold on,” Kenobi offered his support which Anakin gladly took advantage of, and after a bit of effort he was out of the tub and dripping on the monk. The pretty flush was back on Kenobi’s cheeks, and they were admittedly a bit close for comfort as Anakin had stumbled down the last few steps.

 

“Right then…” Kenobi muttered, his eyes riveted to Anakin’s and their breath mixing in the spare inch between them. The monk pulled away as much as he could while still supporting Anakin. “The towel…” Kenobi grabbed it gratefully from where it was sitting nearby. Anakin hadn’t realized he could be wrapped in the off-white material quite so quickly.  

 

With his now free hand, Brother Kenobi ran his fingers through his hair. “God is definitely testing me.”

 

Anakin’s dirty clothes were laying in a pile nearby, and Anakin caught the monk looking at them longingly before frowning at Anakin and letting out a sigh. “Well, I can’t let you get dressed in those again- not after all the work we went through to get you clean.”

 

The monk glanced around, “I suppose- we’ll just have to make due.” Brother Kenobi guided Anakin to sit down before rummaging through the same basket he had gotten his fresh robe from. “Here we are.” The monk said triumphantly, pulling a robe the same dull brown color as his own. “While you may or may not be an angel, I have little doubt that God would mind you wearing the robes of a monk for a time. Come on then, raise your arms.” Anakin didn’t exactly look forward to wearing the slightly scratchy material, but after another bout of charades, he gave in.

 

Now modest enough to leave the room Kenobi inserted himself under Anakin’s arm and helped him out of the room where a group of Sister’s were lingering.

 

“Brother Kenobi” The girls greeted guilty.

 

“Sisters.” The monk returned with a slight frown, “Our gardener came with no other clothes that I am aware of, can I entrust the washing of them to you Sister Margaret?”

 

“Oh yes.” There was a bit too much satisfaction in that.

 

The monk seemed to sense it too as he simply sighed, “Thank you, I will take him to his new accommodations.”

 

“Wait!” One of the Nuns spoke up. The monk raised a brow at the interruption.

 

“He’s still hurt isn’t he?” The girl seemed braver than she had before. “The gardener's hut is so far… surely he needs someone to take care of him.” Her eyes on Anakin leaving no doubt to whom she had in mind for the task.

 

“Hmm..” Kenobi looked down at Anakin with a considering frown. “...I believe you are right Sister Mary. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I will ensure he’s taken care of.”

 

The girls seemed more confused by this than not, although in this case, Anakin was right there with them. Brother Kenobi began shuffling the two of them down the hall, in a different direction this time.

 

“Where are you going, Brother?” The girl, Sister Margaret? asked. Kenobi stopped but didn’t answer, unfortunately, Anakin couldn’t quite see the man’s face to see what he was thinking.

 

“Well. I mean. When I finish washing the clothes, where should I take them?”

 

Anakin wondered how many nightly guests he would end up getting.

 

“As Sister Mary pointed out, our gardener needs someone to watch over him for the next few days, as such, he will be staying with me.”

 

If Anakin could see through the veils covering the girls' faces he had little doubt that there would have been a pout on each and every one of them.

 

“Oh.”

 

Seemingly satisfied that the conversation was finished Brother Kenobi nodded his head in goodbye. It was only Anakin who could see the amused smiled that flickered across the man’s face as they walked away.

  
  


It took a few days before Obi-wan (and the Sisters) were satisfied that their new gardener was healed enough to move out to the hut that the last gardener had used. Obi-wan would have been more reluctant to send the young man there if not for knowing the last gardener had died of too much wine, well that and that he desperately needed to put distance between him and the man.

 

Obi-wan hadn’t felt so tested in years. There was a reason he was at a convent rather than a monastery after all. It was far easier to keep the Lord’s commandments if he was away from temptation. Though Heaven knew that several of the Nun’s felt him to be one. Still, if it wasn’t reciprocated then no sin could occur, and Obi-wan had the feeling that if he wasn’t there that it wouldn’t have been the case, particularly with their new gardener.

 

Still he made sure the man was settled comfortably as could be at the convent, (they hardly lived a lavish lifestyle after all) and may have murmured to himself about keeping watch to make sure none of the Sister’s “disturbed” his peace. Really some of the girls seemed overly eager to break their vows… although admittedly some of them had been given no choice by their families to make them in the first place. Obi-wan hadn’t exactly joined the church willingly himself, his older brother giving him little choice after discovering where Obi-wan’s interests lay. Still what was done, was done, and Obi-wan would stay strong despite the temptation currently lounging in front of him.

 

“That should be it.” Despite knowing that the man couldn’t hear him Obi-wan couldn’t help still talk.  It helped him come up with ideas when he was trying to gesture and- well it was sometimes nice to be able to just talk to someone without worrying about what they would think. The young man simply looked innocently at Obi-wan, no matter what he said, or looked pitifully confused when he thought Obi-wan was trying to tell him something and didn’t understand.

 

Obi-wan reached out, lightly cupping the man’s cheek with a slight smile. “You may be a trial sent to test me… but I think the Sister’s might be right. Perhaps you are an angel.”

 

Obi-wan suddenly had a rather strong urge to do something he absolutely shouldn’t, particularly after calling the man an angel. With an embarrassed flush he pulled away, folding his hands into his sleeves. The gardener simply looked on with innocent confusion and Obi-wan berated himself for being tempted to defile such purity. The man was like a child that was spoken about in scripture, a rare beauty indeed.

 

“Yes, well. You should come to me if you need anything.” Obi-wan said it quickly to cover his embarrassment before blanching as he remembered and tried again, this time with charades. It was likely not very successful however as with a smile the gardener stood and started coming towards him. “Oh no. Not now I mean.” Obi-wan hurried to usher the gardener back to the chair. This sort of miscommunication had been going on from near the beginning. If Obi-wan was honest he rather preferred it when the Matron of the Convent was the main communicator with the gardener. Except Obi-wan didn’t quite trust her to keep her hands off of him any more than any of the Sisters. Though really he didn’t know how much he should trust himself either.

 

Shaking his head from his thoughts Obi-wan made sure that the gardener was staying in place as he started to back up. “Now… you just stay here and I’ll see if I can send one of the Sisters with dinner.” The gardener tilted his head, clearly not understanding. “...On second thought maybe I should come back with dinner. I don’t think they would do anything if I sent them together but…” Obi-wan frowned, there had been two Sisters with the gardener when the man had first woke up in the monastery and Obi-wan hadn’t missed how the man’s tunic had been pulled up.

 

Obi-wan sighed. “I’ll be back shortly.” He slipped out the door and closed it behind him, hoping that the gardener would understand to stay put. The hut was a little ways away from the convent itself but it didn’t take Obi-wan long to run into two sisters walking through the garden. “Sisters.” He greeted, which was returned with two coy smiles as well. “Do you know if Sister Francisco has finished preparing dinner?”

 

After receiving confirmation he continued on and managed to get two bowls of stew and bread for he and the gardener to share. By the time he got back he was glad he had decided to share his meal with the gardener as not only was the hut door wide open but two of the Sisters were practically on top of the poor young man.

 

Obi-wan could admit that the gardener looked more dazed than anything else, but that was no excuse for the Sisters.

 

“Ahem.”

 

The girls jumped, and even the gardener looked a bit guilty.

 

“Oh! Brother! We were just seeing how the gardener was.” Yes, Obi-wan was sure that’s what they were doing.

 

“As you can see, he’s quite well. Dinner is ready- I am sure the bell will be ringing soon.” It was a clear dismissal and both girls scampered out quickly, likely glad that they had gotten off the hook with just that.

 

Obi-wan sighed, the gardener still looked guilty, but it was hardly his fault. “I’m sorry about that. I’m afraid that the Sisters can become a bit-” Obi-wan searched for words and handed the first bowl as well as half the bread to the other man. “lascivious?” He said the term with a mix of distaste and dismay. “I think it comes from being hidden away from the world,” He mused while finding his own chair to sit. “They are safe here so become more predator than prey.”  He scrunched his nose up at the bad comparison, but no one was there to hear it so it mattered little. “I do wonder how wise it is to leave you out here alone though.” Obi-wan worried as his bottom lip as he studied the stew of soup. “Perhaps I should stay the night and ensure your virtue a bit longer.” He looked up with a half smile amused at his own comment only to see the young man focused entirely on his own stew. For a moment Obi-wan could have sworn a smirk was playing across the young mute’s face, but he must have imagined it.

 

“Alright then, another night on the floor for me.” Obi-wan resolved. He had been looking forward to sleeping on his bed again, but sacrifices had to be made, and while the gardener had stayed with him, the young man had taken precedence. “I wish I had thought to bring my blankets…” Obi-wan had started to have the bad habit of talking to himself while around the gardener. There was something about being able to speak one’s mind that was soothing, yet, it probably confused the young man- thinking that Obi-wan was trying to tell him something when he wasn’t. Still, when he glanced at the gardener the man seemed unbothered-simply watching curiously.

 

“I need to go and get a few things.” The hand gestures that Obi-wan made were likely not up to par but he tried all the same. “I should take these to be cleaned anyway,” Obi-wan said gathering up the bowls. “Wouldn’t want to attract animals or bugs.” He frowned a bit in distaste, he was well aware exactly what sort of wildlife was attracted when people were too lazy to clean up after themselves. He held everything in one hand before gesturing to the door “Lock this when I leave.” He demonstrated how to so, and gestured for the gardener to come over to copy the action. After a bit of trial and error, he successfully got the man to do as he wished. “Now… when I go, do that.” The gestures could only convey so much and Obi-wan looked searchingly for understanding that may or may not have been there. Well- he could hope.

 

“I’ll be back soon- I promise.” Obi-wan bit his lip before peering outside. If the Nun’s didn’t see him, it was less likely that they would accost the gardener while he was gone- after all, they would assume he was still there. “It’s clear.” He confirmed despite the lack of need and slipped out. He had to drop off the dishes first, but he could set them just outside the kitchen to be picked up, it seemed heaven was on his side as he made it past (with a few close calls that made him hide around a corner) and managed to grab his blankets and a small pillow.  On the way back he wasn’t nearly so lucky, but by then it mattered little any of the Sisters who might have tried to sneak into the gardener’s hut would not be able to do so before he got back.

 

He was still relieved when he noticed the door was still closed when he got back, and even happier when he realized that the gardener had understood him and locked the door when he left. Only, that left a problem. Obi-wan had raised a hand to knock before it occurred to him that the gardener wouldn’t be able to hear it even if he did.

 

“Oh dear…” Obi-wan’s arms were currently full of blankets, but after a moment of thought, he went to a small window on the side of the building. “Ah, gardener? Oh, I wish I knew your name.” Obi-wan called out even as he tried waving his hand to get the young man’s attention. He had to stop and catch the blanket’s from slipping, but thankfully the man slowly turned- likely just looking around the room, before spotting Obi-wan at the window.

 

A grin spread on the gardener’s face as he took in what most likely was an amusing sight. “Please- if you could,” Obi-wan freed a hand to point towards the door. The man seemed to reluctantly pull his gaze away from Obi-wan to the door and his grin only seemed to get wider when he glanced back. If Obi-wan didn’t know better he would have said it was with no small amount of mischief.

 

Thankfully after pointing again, and another round of looking at the door the gardener seemed to get the hint, nodding with understanding (and a smile that seemed far too amused) before going to open the door.

 

Obi-wan trekked around the hut once more and came inside with murmured thanks. It wasn’t going to be light out for too much longer and he hadn’t thought the bring a candle with him, so unless he wanted to set up his temporary bed in the dark, he had better do so now. The only difficulty was that the hut really was rather small. After looking about for a better spot Obi-wan resigned himself to sleep at the foot of the bed- again.

 

This really shouldn’t have been so bad, but the gardener had the bad habit of leaning over the side and watching Obi-wan with a small little smile. This was rather disconcerting for Obi-wan, particularly when he woke up, mostly because it made him feel rather warm and happy inside.

 

In fact, there had been a time (just that morning actually) that Obi-wan had woken to the gardener gently sweeping aside some of Obi-wan’s hair that had fallen across his face. At first he had thought it just a dream and smiled happily at the rare moment, and then he had sat up straight and been scrambling away. The gardener, of course, looking on as innocently as ever.

 

The man couldn’t possibly know how Obi-wan was twisting these moments in his own head, and Obi-wan was ashamed he was misinterpreting them so badly. Still, he wasn’t exactly sure what the young man was thinking in these odd moments. 

 

While Obi-wan made up his bed the gardener continued to watch him, though when he actually looked at the young man he seemed to be looking anywhere else. Except when Obi-wan returned to what he was doing he could have sworn that the man’s eyes drifted to his posterior. That was highly unlikely though and could be chalked up to Obi-wan’s rather vivid imagination. 

 

“The sun’s going down,” Obi-wan said as he finished up, mostly to distract himself from his own musings. “We should probably get to bed too.” Obi-wan checked the lock on the door, hoping it would deter any nighttime adventurers without him having to actually get involved. 

 

The only thing left was his nightly study, something cut short when the Sun went down too far. Unfortunately, the twilight was apparently more than enough light for the gardener to still watch him, and while Obi-wan could sleep in his robes, he much preferred not to. They were rather scratchy.

 

Obi-wan tried to pantomime the gardener going to sleep. The young man only looked on with what Obi-wan swore was amusement. The whole endeavor was rather futile, but at least the diminishing light had encouraged the young man to get ready rather than waiting until dark. Only this meant that the gardener was currently shirtless, and on the bed. A combination that made it difficult for Obi-wan to concentrate well. (Another reason why his studies ended earlier)

 

“Alright then.” Obi-wan reluctantly committed to being watched as he undressed. The gardener had surely seen it all before, and Obi-wan did at least have undergarments on, although they were rather too small for his taste. Obi-wan pulled off the robe and set it aside, hoping his blush was hidden by the rapidly descending darkness. It was with guilty conscious that he considered how glad he was that the gardener couldn’t speak, the man had seen Obi-wan blush more times than he cared to count, and while the gardener might have been innocent of such things, others would have likely known what Obi-wan was easily.

 

“I rather wish you didn’t look at me like that.” Obi-wan said as he settled down on his makeshift cot. He felt rather safe in doing so as in the darkness he doubted that the gardener could see his mouth moving. “It gives me the wrong idea you see.” He spoke to no one, knowing that it was hardly the other man’s fault for doing so. It was most likely that since the new gardeners only clues about the world were through touch, taste, and his sight, he kept a close eye on Obi-wan in order to understand what was going on- even if nothing was.

 

“You’re rather beautiful you know.” The words were out of Obi-wan’s mouth before he could take them back and though the gardener couldn’t hear him he still reprimanded himself. “I shouldn’t have said that… Oh, heaven help me.”  The gardener leaned over the side of the bed and was silhouetted by the last twilight of the day. Obi-wan couldn’t see anything aside from the fact that the young man was still watching him.

 

Obi-wan groaned and curled on his side, away from the gaze. “The other’s are probably right. You are an angel to watch over… and tempt us.

 

Obi-wan startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He shivered under the warm touch. “What is it?” The question went unanswered of course, and Obi-wan was pulled first to his feet and then onto the bed. The man was clearly trying to communicate something, but Obi-wan wasn’t sure what. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand-” Only to be silenced with a finger to his lips. How the man could tell he was talking in the first place he had no idea... Only when the finger withdrew it was replaced with something much softer and moist. Heat coursed through Obi-wan as he realized the gardener had kissed him, with a yelp he tried to pull away, but to his surprise, his momentum served to only spin him about making it so that  _ he _ was laying on the bed while the gardener hovered above him.

 

“Um-” Obi-wan was temporarily wordless, and a second kiss distracted him badly for a moment before he regained his wits and pushed the young man away. Only this meant that he hands were now pressed against the man’s firm pectorals.  “Ah, we shouldn’t do this.” Everything in Obi-wan was saying that yes, yes they should, even his voice sounded half-hearted. Still, another kiss didn’t come despite the man above him being unable to hear the protest. Obi-wan took a few deep breaths as he tried to decide what to do, a hand gently brushed his hair away from his forehead and he was lost.

 

“Do you… do you actually want me?” Obi-wan asked, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. He caught the hand that lingered in his hair and brought it forward- placing a small kiss on the wrist. “If you’re an angel, why would you want me?”

 

A third kiss, softer than any of the others answered this time, hesitant now as if knowing it could be pushed away at any moment.

 

He pulled away.

 

“Please.” Obi-wan leaned forward, trying to regain what was lost. The mouth that met his smiled into the kiss, and from that point on fire engulfed him.

 

* * *

 

 

Anakin knew in the beginning that it couldn’t last forever.

 

He had just hoped it would have been longer than a few weeks.

 

Brother Kenobi, or Obi-wan as Anakin had finally been able to figure out, was surprisingly kind despite how uptight he seemed up first. Even though Anakin had been amused by Obi-wan’s determination to “protect” him from the Nun’s, he soon realized that the man truly meant well. For all that he condemned himself (aloud and around Anakin), he was probably one of the most innocent men Anakin had ever met. Admittedly Anakin had been a little slow on the uptake, but once he got a clear indication that Obi-wan was interested well, by then Anakin was more than a little interested himself.

 

It became clear (mostly from Obi-wan talking in bed) that Obi-wan wasn’t very experienced, but to Anakin’s delight the man learned quickly, oh did he ever. It was a little hard not to return the pillow talk, particularly when Obi-wan was the most honest (and frankly flattering) bed partner Anakin had ever had. Unfortunately, the same thing that got him into the man’s bed (and maybe heart?) was likely the same thing that would get him out again.

 

Relationships built on lies never lasted, Anakin had seen more than his fair share wither and die because of it. So Anakin took, and gave, oh did he give, what he could, while he could, falling in love all the while.

**Author's Note:**

> Sort of writing the second chapter to this? It's about half-way done and is about what the consequences of Anakin's deception are. Let me know if you'd like to read it :)


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